Alkylation as referred to herein is the reaction of paraffins with olefins to produce a mixture of highly branched paraffins called alkylate. The major use of the alkylation process is to produce alkylate for gasoline blends. At present, the only alkylation processes of commercial interest use sulfuric acid or hydrofluoric acid as catalysts. These catalysts are currently used because they are more competitive with respect to economics and alkylate quality than any other catalyst system developed to this date.
Use of sulfuric acid and hydrofluoric acid as catalysts for alkylation, however, is fraught with safety and environmental problems. The feedstocks, products, and catalysts are liquids and require substantial processing equipment to separate them. Further, the catalysts are corrosive and toxic and must be handled with great care to contain and to regenerate or dispose of them.